DENVER—There can’t be many go-go dancers who have tried to run a marathon, but there is one national class marathoner who is a go-go dancer.

Michele Suszek of Lyons has won five marathons, including two this year, and has already qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials. Sunday, she’ll be running in the elite women’s wave of the New York City Marathon. Her go-go dancing, she maintains, helps her prepare for endurance running.

“I use that as a mental strategy in my racing,” Suszek, 28, said. “I think to myself, ‘Nobody else had to dance four hours, run 20 miles, sleep only a few hours and do it all again the next day.'”

On most Friday and Saturday nights, from 10 p.m. to 1:45 a.m., you can find her performing at the Ultra Sheer Nightclub at the Westminster Promenade. By day it’s an upscale Mexican restaurant, but on weekend nights it has a dance floor with throbbing disco and a light show, during which Michele, known as “Vegas” on stage, and her team of dancers gyrate and dance wearing skimpy costumes and go-go boots.

The dance gig is a way to supplement her income as a personal trainer.

“I think it is beneficial for my running, but can also take away from it if I am not careful about it,” Suszek said. “Meaning, if I need time to rest, then I need to take the night off because it is extremely tiring. It is also a great core and leg workout, but I need to be sure I stretch to eliminate the risk of injury.”

Suszek grew up in Michigan and ran track at UNLV. In 2005 she borrowed $1,000 from her brother and moved to Colorado.

“I just knew Colorado was the place for me,” Suszek said. “I liked the drier climate, I liked the mountains, I liked that it has the four seasons.”

In 2006, a friend talked her into doing the Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins. Suszek finished second, finishing in three hours, six minutes, 37 seconds. Four months later, she won the New Mexico Marathon in 3:04:09. She then set her goal to break three hours. She did that four months later, running 2:55:03 in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Phoenix Marathon.

“It just kind of snowballed from there,” Suszek said. “I started doing my own training programs. I would print them off of Runner’s World or something, but would make them harder for myself. As that progressed, I progressed.”

She won prize money in Phoenix and decided to spend some of it on getting started as a fitness competitor, but she found that world to be “snooty” and rife with jealousy. So, she quit and set out to become the best marathoner she could be.

“The fitness and figure world is extremely expensive,” Suszek said. “I wanted to do it just because I always wanted to, and I’d like to be a fitness model.”

She put on muscle, not to the point of bulking up like some bodybuilders, but certainly ripped. It didn’t take her long to tire of that scene, though.

“I was like, ‘This really isn’t me.’ I don’t mind getting dressed up fancy and all that kind of stuff, but it truly is a political sport,” Suszek said. “It’s a very undefined sport, in the sense of what they’re looking for. When you get to national competition levels, some of the women, if you put a mask on their head, you can’t tell whether they’re female or male. That’s too far.”

So she continues to train for marathons and the Olympics, and maintains her go-go gig on the side. Matt Turnbull, elite athlete manager for the Rock ‘n’ Roll races, sees a bright future.

“She just keeps getting better and better,” Turnbull said. “I only know her from racing, but if she shows the same attitude and determination in training as she does when she gets to the start line, then I’m sure there’s more to come. In the UK we would call Michele a ‘grafter.’ She puts her head down and just gets on with it.”

Suszek competed in the 2008 Olympic Trials primarily for experience and finished 60th in 2:45:16. She ran her personal best in 2009 when she won a Seattle race in 2:38:37. To make the Olympic team, she likely would need to run around a 2:30.

“I’m trying to make the Olympic team, there’s no doubt in my mind,” she said. “I feel like I have that ability to do that. I’m going to give my all.”

The Post's ski and Olympics writer, Meyer covered his 12th Games last summer in Rio de Janeiro. He has covered five World Alpine Ski Championships and more than 100 World Cup ski events. He is a member of the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and Colorado Running Hall of Fame. He regularly covers running and the Colorado Rapids.

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